Tag: military industrial complex

Pentagon Turns to World War II-Era Tactic in Bid to Ramp Up Weapons Production: Report

The Trump administration wants automakers to put the pedal to the metal to help rebuild America’s weapons stockpiles, according to a new report.

As wars in the Middle East and Ukraine have consumed missiles and other weapons, the Trump administration is turning to a tactic from World War II in order to resupply as fast as possible, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Top executives at General Motors and Ford have been approached, the outlet reported, citing sources it did not name. GE Aerospace and machinery producer Oshkosh have also been approached.

The War Department “is committed to rapidly expanding the defense industrial base by leveraging all available commercial solutions and technologies to ensure our warfighters maintain a decisive advantage,” a Pentagon official said.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has called for American manufacturing to be on a “wartime footing.”

Talks with manufacturers began before the war against Iran, with the goal of strengthening national security by increasing the military’s ability to quickly increase production of weapons and technology to meet emerging needs.

Defense officials sought input from companies that do not perform extensive defense work about barriers that need to be addressed by the government, such as the process for bidding and contracting.

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Application Denied: Another Dive into the Failures of Military Bureaucracy and COVID-19 Mandate Relief

On September 23, 2021, an active-duty Air Force officer who has served for 18 years submitted a request for a religious accommodation for the COVID-19 shot mandate. Four and a half years later, there is still derogatory paperwork in his personnel file, leaving him ineligible or significantly disadvantaged for all career advancement and more.

This story provides an update on developments from September 2025 and March 2026, reinforcing J.M. Phelps’ assertion that the Board of Correction of Military Records (BCMR) is “ineffective” and frequently highlights the widespread “bureaucratic malfeasance” within the military institution, providing little more than a “half measure” to service members, as in the case of Air Force Captain Anthony Monteleone.

Furthermore, concerning Air Force BCMR (AFBCMR), the situation underscores how their decisions are a direct affront to the goals of President Donald Trump and Department of War (DOW) Pete Hegseth to restore the military.

Case in point: On April 3, 2026, AFBCMR issued a “finding” that flatly denied any relief whatsoever to Capt. Monteleone. Given the overwhelming mountain of evidence reviewed by J.M. Phelps and provided to the Board, one can only conclude that the Board continues to undermine the efforts of President Trump and his appointees within the Department of War. This bureaucratic obstruction appears aimed at continuing the denial of mandated relief to those who suffered under the military’s unlawfully enforced COVID-19 shot mandate, which was rescinded in January 2023.

Mr. Richard Anderson, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserves, representing the AFBCMR and operating under the full delegated authority of the Secretary of the Air Force, stated that when it comes to Capt. Monteleone’s case, “the [AFBCMR] determined there was insufficient evidence of error or injustice. Accordingly, your application is denied.”

Sadly, for the author of this article, Mr. Anderson’s statement brings to mind the idiom, “If I had a dollar for every time I heard that.”

The Board’s stated reasoning behind this decision was that, although the entire mandate was ruled unlawful, the guidance from Undersecretary of War for Personnel and Readiness, Anthony Tata, to the branch BCMRs did not specifically state that all [emphasis mine] service members harmed by the entire COVID-19 mandate must be granted relief. Instead, in their interpretation [emphasis mine], his guidance indicates that only those punished for solely refusing the order to take the shot itself were eligible for remediation under the guidance.

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THE OPERATOR: A Counterintelligence Officer Built the UFO Disclosure Movement. He Never Left the Payroll.

There is a version of this story that is comfortable to tell. A patriot inside the Pentagon discovers the government is hiding evidence of non-human intelligence. He resigns in protest. He goes public. He fights for the truth. Congress listens. The walls begin to crack.

It is a good story. It has a hero, a villain, and a ticking clock. It has been told on Joe Rogan, on 60 Minutes, on the History Channel, in the halls of Congress, and in a bestselling book cleared for publication by the same Department of Defense that supposedly tried to silence its author.

We are not going to tell that story.

We are going to tell you what happens when a career counterintelligence officer, confirmed as recently as 2022 to be on the government payroll, builds an information architecture designed to control what you believe about the most extraordinary claim in human history. And we are going to tell you what happens to the people who ask the wrong questions.

THE RÉSUMÉ THEY WANT YOU TO SEE

Luis “Lue” Daniel Elizondo enlisted in the United States Army in 1995. He spent two decades as a Counterintelligence Special Agent. The formal designations are MOS 35L and 35M. The informal job description is this: you learn how to identify threats, recruit assets, manage deception operations, run information campaigns, and neutralize anyone who disrupts your mission.

His deployments included Korea, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and South America. He managed classified intelligence operations at Guantanamo Bay’s Camp Seven, the most restricted facility in the detention complex, running missions against al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Hezbollah. His final DoD performance evaluation, dated 2016, praised his ability to manage highly classified programs on a global scale. According to Keith Kloor’s reporting in Issues in Science and Technology, the evaluator noted his office had “identified and neutralized 6 insider threats” and “co-authored 4 national-level policies involving covert action.”

Read that last line again. This is not an analyst. This is not a bureaucrat who stumbled onto UFO files. This is a professional whose government formally evaluated him on his ability to write and execute covert action policy. Covert action, by definition, involves narrative control, plausible deniability, and the manipulation of target populations.

His employer assessed him as excellent at all of these things.

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‘The Deck Might Melt’: The USS Gerald R. Ford Aircraft Carrier Can’t Fly New F-35C Stealth Fighters

The USS Gerald R. Ford was meant to mark a new chapter in naval aviation for the United States Navy, but the lead ship of its new class of American aircraft carriers still lacks the full modifications necessary for consistent F-35C operations. 

The issue, of course, is larger than just hot exhaust. 

It reveals the Navy’s tendency to introduce impressive platforms before the supporting system around them is fully ready.

Just think about what it took to build the Gerald R. Ford. It is the largest aircraft carrier ever constructed. The Navy integrated a host of new technologies to support the carrier and ensure it stayed ahead of American rivals. 

Everything from the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) to the Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG), and even the ship’s onboard plumbing, was reimagined in a way that the Pentagon believed would make the Ford-class the dominant class of carriers—unmatched, really—for decades to come.  

After high cost and schedule overruns, the Ford was finally launched. It cost taxpayers $13 billion to build, and many of the new onboard systems—including the EMALS and AAG—did not function correctly.

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Why Did US Bring So Much Hardware and Troops to Rescue One Pilot From Iran?

The US effort to rescue an F-15 pilot downed in Iran could indeed have been a cover for an attempt to seize Iran’s uranium stockpile, considering the large number of aircraft, helicopters, and special forces personnel involved, Iranian and Middle Eastern affairs expert Farkhad Ibragimov tells Sputnik.

However, such a mission would be a bad idea, as five or six thousand troops simply wouldn’t be enough for a ground operation, he warns.

“In order to conduct a full-scale ground operation — not to conquer Iran’s territory but to at least affect its nuclear program — the US would need at least 500,000 troops, maybe more,” Ibragimov explains.

The US military could also have deployed so much hardware for the rescue operation to show that they are willing to go to great lengths to save their man, given how a captive US pilot would afford Iran serious leverage, not to mention that the Democratic opposition in the US and even Trump’s own supporters would raise hell if a US serviceman got captured by Iran.

Meanwhile, the US currently finds itself in a precarious situation and yet continues to vastly underestimate the situation in Iran.

“The US believes that by launching a small ground operation in select coastal regions of Iran, they could seriously destabilize the situation in the country,” Ibragimov notes. “This is rather absurd and rash thinking.”

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Rep. Eric Burlison calls for FBI probe into ‘deeply concerning’ scientist and military personnel disappearances and deaths

The list of U.S. scientists and military personnel who have gone missing has grown in recent months, beginning with the July 4, 2024 disappearance of Frank Maiwald, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory researcher.

Following several more high-profile disappearances—including a senior aerospace engineer and a retired Air Force General, Representative Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) is demanding a federal investigation. Citing the
“deeply concerning” ties these individuals share with advanced research, Burlison revealed that he has asked for the involvement of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to determine if these incidents are connected or represent a targeted threat to national security.

“The disappearance of multiple scientists and military personnel with ties to advanced research is deeply concerning. I’ve already requested FBI involvement, and we will keep pressing for answers,” Burlison said Monday on X.

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Trump Set To Unveil His $1.5 Trillion Military Budget Request Amid Raging Iran War

President Trump is expected to unveil his request for a $1.5 trillion military budget for the 2027 fiscal year on Friday, Reuters has reported, marking a 50% increase from this year’s already massive budget.

The 2026 military budget marked the first to officially exceed $1 trillion, which was achieved by Congress passing a 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) worth about $900 billion and combining it with $150 billion in supplemental military spending that was included in the so-called Big Beautiful Bill, a reconciliation bill that became law last year.

The White House is expected to go with a similar strategy to reach $1.5 trillion. It may request an NDAA worth about $1 trillion or less and seek a supplemental spending bill for $400 to $600 billion. Republican leadership in Congress has already begun working on the potential supplemental.

The Trump administration is also expected to soon ask Congress for $200 billion in “emergency” spending for the Iran war, mainly to replenish the air defense munitions and missiles used so far in the conflict, which has been raging for more than one month. It’s unclear if the $200 billion for the Iran war would be in addition to the supplemental for the 2027 budget.

The Reuters report said that the massive $1.5 trillion request will include the $185 billion “Golden Dome” project, Trump’s plan for a major new missile defense system for all the territory of the United States, which will be a major boondoggle for the US weapons makers and may spark a new arms race.

The report said the administration also plans to use the money to fund more weapons production with the goal of “deterring” China and to replenish weapons used in the Middle East wars and in Ukraine.

Bloomberg reported that the White House’s budget plan will frame the Republicans’ midterm election message around a massive military buildup, partially paid for by cuts to domestic agencies. The request will come as the US appears to be on the cusp of launching ground operations against Iranian islands and ports, which could lead to significant US casualties.

At the beginning of his term, Trump suggested he was interested in reducing the military budget, but he then dramatically expanded US military interventions worldwide and sought record-breaking spending levels.

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This company used to make weapons for the Nazis. Now it will do the same for Israel

One of Germany’s biggest and most iconic car manufacturers, Volkswagen (VW) and one of Israel’s most well-known arms manufacturers, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, part of the global Rafael Group, are planning to collaborate. If the project is realized, VW will convert one of its German factories in the historic city of Osnabrueck from making automobiles to producing components of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.

There are good reasons why this has raised eyebrows. For one thing, it reflects not only VW’s growing problems, but those of Germany’s vital automobile sector and the German economy as a whole. As the Financial Times has noted, the VW-Rafael project would mark “the highest-profile example yet of the German car industry, where profits have plunged,” trying to save itself by entering the “booming defense sector.”

These plunging profits are due to many factors: Chinese competition; Germany’s failure to keep up with cutting-edge technology, communication infrastructure, and business practices; American sabotage by tariff warfare and filching German companies via subsidies; and last but not least, the horrendous energy costs that the entire EU has inflicted on itself by going to war – by Ukrainian proxy and sanctions – against Russia.

The shift to making things for the military, meanwhile, is just a small part of Germany’s breathtakingly misguided response: Namely, a policy of going into massive public debt – under a so-called conservative – to finance a bizarre form of military Keynesianism that is based on illusions (no, Russia is not about to attack), produces self-reinforcing Russophobia (which makes a return to normality even harder), and won’t work as an economic boost, as even the usually government-aligned Spiegel has admitted.

In short, like a prism, the Osnabrueck plan bundles together many of Germany’s worst – and self-inflicted – problems, and the single silliest idea of how to tackle them.

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Golden Dome, ships and missiles top Trump’s $1.9 trillion fiscal 2027 defence wish list  

US President Donald Trump is set to unveil a US$1.5 trillion (S$1.9 trillion) defence budget request for the next fiscal year on April 3, by far the largest year-over-year increase in defence spending in the post-World War II era.

Funding for Mr Trump’s marquee but controversial US$185 billion “Golden Dome” missile defence shield is expected to be included in the budget request, as well as Lockheed Martin F-35 jets and warships.

Procurement of Virginia-class submarines made by General Dynamics, and Huntington Ingalls Industries as well as other top shipbuilding priorities is expected.

In 2025, Mr Trump asked Congress for a national defence budget of US$892.6 billion then added US$150 billion through a supplemental budget request, sending the total price tag over US$1 trillion for the first time in history.

While the budget request framework for the fiscal year ending Sept 30, 2027, is set to be unveiled on April 3, a Pentagon official said more details on the defence budget will be announced on April 21.

Earlier this year the administration was contemplating whether the US$1.5 trillion budget request could be in the form of a US$900 billion national security budget, with a US$400 billion to US$600 billion additional request, similar to the structure used in 2026.

The administration plans to use funds for more weapons production in the hopes of deterring Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region and to rebuild weapons stocks depleted by conflicts in Israel, Iran and Ukraine.

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Israel Halts All Arms Purchases From France, Citing Anti-Semitism

A dramatic rupture between Israel and France is sending shockwaves through Europe’s political and defense establishment, exposing what critics describe as the consequences of globalist leadership detached from strategic reality. The decision by Israel to halt all defense procurement from Paris marks not just a diplomatic dispute, but a deeper fracture in the Western alliance.

According to a report from POLITICO EUROPE, at the center of the move is Amir Baram, who ordered an immediate end to government-to-government defense purchases from France. The directive reflects what Israeli officials describe as a long-building loss of trust in French leadership.

“Israel will reduce all defense procurement from France to zero,” the Israeli Defense Ministry confirmed, signaling a decisive pivot away from Paris. Instead, Israel will prioritize domestic production and cooperation with “friendly” nations.

The message is clear: reliability now matters more than tradition. For Jerusalem, France no longer qualifies as a dependable partner. The breakdown did not happen overnight. Israeli officials point to a pattern of increasingly hostile actions by the government of Emmanuel Macron over the past two years. Among the most controversial incidents was France’s decision to block Israeli participation at major defense exhibitions. At the 2025 Paris Air Show, French authorities physically partitioned Israeli booths, restricting access to key systems.

Baram described the move in blunt terms, calling it “absolutely, bluntly anti-Semitic.” He accused Paris of using political justifications to shield its own industries from Israeli competition.
This was not an isolated case. Earlier attempts were made to exclude Israeli companies from events like Eurosatory, one of Europe’s largest defense exhibitions.

Although a French court overturned one such ban in 2024, the pattern of obstruction continued. Israeli officials saw it as evidence of deliberate economic and political discrimination.
The situation escalated further during the ongoing conflict with Iran. France blocked the transfer of military supplies to Israel by refusing to allow aircraft carrying munitions to cross its airspace.

For Israeli leadership, this crossed a red line. One official described it as “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

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